Theodore Lumpkin Jr, Tuskegee Airman, dies from coronavirus

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Theodore Lumpkin Jr, one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, has died. He was a few days shy of his 101st birthday.

Death details

Lumpkin, a native of Los Angeles, died December 26 due to complications of coronavirus, according to a statement from Los Angeles City College, which he attended from 1938 to 1940.

California has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected nearly 22 million in the US and killed over 300,000 people.

Theodore Lumpkin Jr Was A Tuskegee Airman

Lumpkin was drafted in 1942 and assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron in Tuskegee, Alabama, which later helped escorted bombers in Europe. Lumpkin’s eyesight wasn’t good enough to be a pilot but he was an intelligence officer who briefed pilots on missions, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Lumpkin’s wife, Georgia, told the Times that he didn’t talk much about his experiences with the airmen.

“We were married for a number of years until I heard about them,” she said. “When I realized who these guys were and what they’d done, I was just overcome at how much they persevered. They did not bow down. They achieved things that detractors said they couldn’t, weren’t capable of doing.”

During his stint in the war, Lumpkin obtained an undergraduate sociology degree from University of Southern California, became a social worker with Los Angeles county and after retiring shifted gears and went into the real estate industry.

The Tuskegee Airmen received the highest civilian recognition in 2007 with the Congressional Gold Medal. Nearly two years later, then-President Obama invited the surviving squadron members, including Lumpkin, to his inauguration.

Lumpki Jr’s Legacy

Lumpkin is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, several grandchildren and a great-grandchild.